578 
mechanical etiquette, and the laborious 
duplicity which supported the dignity 
of this worshipped king: while the joy- 
less arrogance of that mean and sordid 
reptile called a courtier, might be chas- 
tised and edified by the evidence of that 
debasing and heart-gnawing dependence 
which is the:inevitable concomitant of 
his proud servility. 
With reference to our own country, 
the publication is judiciously timed. 
It is a voice of warning to a court, but 
too evidently tending, in its tastes and 
propensities, to the “ pride, pomp, and 
circumstance” of military despotism ; 
and even to the resumption of the very 
liveries of courtly servitude and depen- 
dence ;*—to a generation but too evi- 
dently disposed to confound the splen- 
dour of expanding streets and towering 
edifices (things in themselves which, if 
estimated only at their proper worth, 
we neither condemn nor despise) and 
the refinements of an ostentatious 
luxury (which at best can be enjoyed 
but by’a few) with the genuine progress 
of civilization—which if real and legiti- 
mate must tend to the moral and. in- 
tellectual exaltation, and to the im- 
proved condition of the whole com- 
munity. 
But let us not tread in the digressive 
path of our contemporaries, and ramble 
into a disquisition, while we profess an 
analysis. > 
Prefixed to this volume, with a laud- 
able respect to reference and authori+ 
ties, is an account of some of the books 
quoted: of which we shall particularize 
only, and that in the way of extract, 
CEuvres de Louis XIV. :— 
“ The best edition of this work is in six 
volumes, 8yo. It consists of several parts. 
One part, but the least important, was placed 
in the King’s library at Paris by the Maré- 
chal Duc de Noailles, to whomit had been 
given by Louis XIV. himself. Another 
portion was given by Louis X VL to Gene- 
ral Grimoard, the editor of a. part of the 
work. Another was given by the Abbé 
Sallier, Librarian of the King’s library, to 
’ the editor of the Giuvres Mélées of Pelis- 
son. With respect to the Memoirs, it seems 
to be agreed, that they are in the hand- 
writing of Pelisson, who was employed by 
the King in 1672, as his historiographer. 
* See the orders issued and the prepara- 
tions making for the assumption of Civil 
uniforms: by which the office to which 
every Clerk and functionary belongs, is io 
be recorded in the cut and colour of the 
coat and cape he wears, and the buttons 
with which it is tobe adorned. Why not 
give him a shoulder knot also at once. 
» Memoirs of the Affairs of 
“In page 15 of the copy deposited by 
the Duke of Noailles, is the following note, 
‘Le roi a mieux mis cet endroit;., je nai 
pu bien retenir les termes. précis,..et. puis 
avoir oublié d’autres choses ailleurs.’ . It 
would appear from this note, that Pelisson 
wrote from the King’s dictation, and put 
this note in the copy delivered to the King 
for his perusal and approbation. , Another 
note leads to the same conclusion.’ 
At the end of the Memoirs for the 
year 1661, Pelisson, we are told, has a 
very long note, a passage of which is 
quoted :-— nok 
* From the beginning it would seem that 
all was the King’s ; and from the end, that 
the reflections at least were chiefly Pelis- 
son’s It will perhaps be safe to conclude, 
that the King dictated from notes (of which 
many are still remaining) the history of the 
year; that Pelisson wrote from what he had 
heard, adding many of the reflections, and 
nearly all the form. Another point to be 
considered is, at what time these Memoirs 
were composed. Now, at the end of the 
first manuscript, p. 100, of the printed edi- 
tion, he says, many of his. ancestors have 
waited till the end of their lives before they 
gave exhortations of this kind to their chil- 
dren, but that he writes ‘ lorsque la-vigueur 
de’ mon age, la liberté de mon ‘esprit, et’ 
état florissant de mes affaires ne vous’ per- 
mettroient point d’y soupgonner de déguise- 
ment ou de les attribuer 4 la vue du péril.” 
Speaking of the employment of his: time im 
1666, he says, ‘“‘ quand aprés cela, j’avois 
quelques momens de reste, je les employois 
aux Mémoires que vous lisez maintenant.’ 
Here then we have the beginning of the 
Memoirs; but their completion in their 
present form seems'to have taken place long 
afterwards ;' for in the year 1661, ‘speaking 
of the belief of his taking a prime minister, 
he says, “‘ Le temps a fait voir ce-qu’il en 
falloit croire, et c’estici-la dixiéme année 
que je marche.’ These dates enable us to 
add to our estimate of the value of the Me- 
moirs. We see that.they were not drawn 
up in haste, and given away without revi~ 
sion. They were the early employment. of 
the King in his leisure moments in the year 
1666. Pelisson says, in a letter to Louis 
XIV. in 1671, ‘ that the King had drawn 
him from a state of misfortune and disgrace 
nine months before.’ It was soon after 
this, probably, he was entrusted with the 
Memoirs. They thus come to us, adorned 
indeed. by the reflections: of a stranger, but 
approved and weighed by Louis. XIV. with 
the most scrupulous care.. It.is probable 
that he left to his grandson. and successor 
more perfect copies, one of which Louis 
puts into the hands of General Grimoard- 
There are some corrections in the hand of 
Louis in the last copy, which shew. that he 
adopted them, In speaking ofthe: plan of 
giving the crown’ of Poland, the MS: says; 
that. what touched: him the most was, that 
it 
